Side shiftable backhoe



Nov. 26, 1968 K. L. MAGEE SIDE SHIFTABLE BACKHOE Filed Dec. '28, 1966 INVENTOR. Hayes Kemzf/t L BY M454; 557715, Ea n/awe er w. & 8 6416.

United States Patent C 3,412,881 SIDE SHIFTABLE BACKHOE Kenneth L. Magee, Racine, Wis., assignor to J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Dec. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 605,306 6 Claims. (Cl. 214-138) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A side shiftable excavating device, such as a backhoe, which is pivotally mounted on a frame slidably received on a support structure. Means are provided for removably connecting the excavating device to the support structure so that pivotal movement of the excavating device on the slidable frame will reposition the frame with respect to the support structure.

The present invention relates generally to excavating implements and more particularly to an improved method of and apparatus for repositioning a side shiftable exca-vating implement.

In the past, it has become common commercial practice in the excavating art to mount an excavating device, such as a backhoe, upon a frame, which is slidable relative to a support structure or fixed frame. The support structure is generally mounted upon a self propelled vehicle or the like or alternatively may form a part of the frame structure of the vehicle. Such devices are commonly generically denominated as side shiftable backhoes.

In prior art backhoes, one method of shifting the sliding frame on the fixed frame was to use the hydraulic units on the excavating implement to effect the relative movement of the frame on the fixed support structure. In this type of arrangement the boom of the excavating device is generally pivoted to a side position on the frame and the bucket is placed against a solid object or in the earth so that actuation of the hydraulic cylinders operating the backhoe will force the slidable frame along the track formed on the :fixed frame. Thereafter, the sliding frame may be fixedly secured or locked in the new position on the fixed support structure. This arrangement is generally disclosed in copending application Serial No. 450,114, filed April 22, 1965, now .Patent No. 3,304,100 and assigned to the assignee of the present application.

Another method of effecting relative movement between the sliding frame and the fixed support structure is to provide hydraulic units interconnecting the sliding frame and the fixed support structure so that the sliding frame carrying the backhoe may be moved along the fixed support structure by appropriate actuation of the hydraulic unit. This arrangement is generally disclosed in French et al., No. 3,155,250.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a simple inexpensive method of repositioning an implement relative to a fixed frame.

Another object is to provide apparatus for performing the above method which is inexpensive and readily capable of being attached to conventional implements.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent when considered in conjunction with the following specification and the accompanying drawing wherein,

The single figure is a perspective view of a tractor mounted side shiftable backhoe having the features of the invention incorporated therein.

The single figure of the drawing illustrates a perspective view of a tractor-mount backhoe generally designated at 10, which comprises a tractor 12 having wheels Patented Nov. 26, 1968 14 supporting a chassis 16 including a drivers seat 18 and a steering wheel 20.

It is of course understood that the tractor 12 may be any type of propulsion system for supporting a fixed or immobile frame, generally designated at 22. The fixed frame or support structure 22 includes two generally horizontally extending beams 24 and 26 which are joined, by welding or the like, to the rear side of a pair of transversely spaced, vertically extending columns 30 and 32. The rear faces of the beams 24 and 26 carry plates 34 and 36.

The spaced horizontal plates 34, 36, constitute slide rails or a transverse support for a sliding frame 40 swingably supporting the boom 42 of the excavating device. A swing post 44 is pivotally mounted by connecting pins (not shown) on integral cars 46 respectively integral with upper and lower support plates 50 and 52. The support plates 50 and 52 are fixedly secured to vertically extending columns 54 and 56 and the entire structure forms the sliding frame 40. The boom 42 is adapted to be pivoted on the support plates 50 and 52 by a pair of swing cylinders 58, only one of which is shown in the drawings. The cylinders 58 have'one end pivotally connected to the sliding frame 40 and the opposite end secured to the swing post 44. The sliding or mobile frame 40 may also include an operators seat 60 and a control panel 62 carried by the upper support plate 50.

The boom 42 of the backhoe assembly 70 is adapted to be moved above a vertical axis formed on the swing pots 44 through a boom cylinder 72. The free end of the boom 42 is adapted to pivotally support a triangularly shaped pivot bracket 74 having a dipper stick 76 pivotally secured thereto with a dipper stick or crowd cylinder 78 interconnecting the bracket 74 and to the boom 42. A bucket cylinder 80, and links '82 pivotally support a bucket structure 84 on the free end of the dipper stick 76.

Retractable outrigger supports generally designated at 86 are supported by means (not shown) on the fixed support structure to provide additional support for the entire assembly. Also, the sliding frame is preferably locked on the fixed frame by locking means 90. A preferred type of locking means includes hydraulic members generally disclosed in the above Patent No. 3,304,100 dated February 10, 1967. Since the backhoe assembly 70 forms no part of this invention, a detailed description thereof does not appear to be necessary.

As was noted above, in one prior art method of shifting the movable frame 40 with respect to the support structure 22 the bucket 84 would be placed in the earth or ground and, by actuation of the ground cylinder 80, the sliding frame could be moved to the new position on the guide rails and locked in position by the locking means 90.

However, many times an immovable object is not readily available and it is highly undesirable to force the bucket into the ground. This is particularly true when operating in landscaped areas where a minimum amount of destruction of the ground surface is desirable. In this type of environment it is highly desirable to provide a simple means for shifting the sliding frame on the support structure by suitable elements carried on the implement.

According to the invention, a very simple yet effective method is provided for effecting the desired relative movement of the sliding frame on the fixed frame. This is accomplished by providing an interconnection between the .boom of the backhoe assembly and the fixed support strucmeans includes a first support member or connecting element 100 fixedly secured to one end of the support structure 22. A second connecting element 102 is mounted on the boom 42 at a point spaced from the swing post 44. Linkage means 104 are provided for interconnecting the elements or points 100 and 102 and in the preferred embodiment the linkage means includes a flexible member, such as a chain. Of course, a second pair of connecting elements 100 and 102 are also provided on the opposite side of the support structure and the boom.

Preferably, the flexible means 104 are removably secured to the connecting points 100 and 102 and are normally removed and stored in a proper location on the tractor 12.

In operation, whenever it is desired to move the sliding frame on the fixed support structure, the flexible member 104 is secured to the points 100 and 102 on the side of the direction of sliding movement for the frame 40 on the fixed support structure and the locking means 90 are released. Thereafter, the operator need only actuate the cylinders 58 to pivot the post 44 on the spaced ears 46 thus pivoting the boom 42 on the sliding frame 40 in a direction away from the point 100 having the flexible member connected thereto. Since the points 100 and 102 will be held in fixed relation with respect to each other, the pivotal movement of the boom 42 away from the connecting point 100 on the support structure will slide the movable frame 40 transversely along the fixed frame including rails 34 and 36 toward the point 100 on the fixed frame 22. After the sliding frame has been moved to the desired position, the locking means 90 may be actuated to maintain the sliding frame in fixed position on the support structure. All of these steps may be accomplished while the vehicle is in the operated position by merely raising the bucket above the ground.

Of course, if desired, two linkage means 104 may be provided and one end of each of the linkage means may be fixedly secured to the opposite ends of the fixed support structure so that movement of the sliding frame in either direction may readily be accomplished merely by connecting the appropriate linkage means with the boom 42 and swinging the boom in the appropriate direction to transversely slide the mobile frame on the fixed frame.

It is readily apparent that the invention provides an effective, inexpensive means for sliding the movable frame on the fixed support structure of a backhoe assembly, which may be incorporated in any conventional vehicle assembly by merely providing a first pair of spaced connecting points on the fixed support structure and a second pair of connecting points on the boom with suitable linkage means removably attached to an appropriate pair of fixed points. The movement is capable of being affected while the bucket is spaced from the ground and the machine remains stationary.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a combination of an implement and support structure in which the implement includes a boom and means for laterally swinging the boom about a vertical pivot on a frame slidable on the support structure, the improvement comprising means for sliding the frame on the support structure, said last means including linkage means having one end secured to the support structure and the opposite end secured to said boom at points spaced from said frame whereby lateral swinging of said boom on said frame will pivot said boom on said vertical pivot to cause relative lateral shifting between said support structure and said frame there-by repositioning the implement on the support structure.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said linkage means is a flexible member having means for removably securing the opposite ends of said member to said spaced points.

3. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said last means further includes second linkage means with one end of each of said linkage means respectively secured to said frame adjacent the opposite ends thereof and the opposite ends of said linkage means securable to said boom at points spaced from said pivot.

4. A combination as defined in claim 3, in which the linkage means are removably secured to said boom to allow unrestricted pivotal movement of said boom on said frame when said linkage means are removed from said boom.

5. A method of transversely repositioning an excavating device along a transverse support and wherein the excavating device is mounted for pivotal movement on a vertical axis of a movable frame mounted for lateral sliding movement on the transverse support, the improvement comprising the steps of providing a fixed connection between said device and transverse support at points spaced from each other and pivoting the excavating device on the movable frame to laterally slide the movable frame along the transverse support and reposition the excavating device on the transverse support.

-6. A method as defined in claim 5, including the further step of removing the connection after said excavating device has been repositioned to allow unrestricted pivotal movement of said excavating device on said frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. 

